House of Commons Hansard Debates for 19 Jan 1993

Firearms

Mr. Wiggin : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the progress on transferring responsibility for firearms and shotgun licensing to a national firearms control board.

Mr. Charles Wardle : My right hon. and learned Friend is in the process of consulting Ministerial colleagues about this and will make an announcement as soon as possible.

Prisoners (Mental Health)

Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of persons currently residing in prisons in England and Wales are considered to have mental health problems.

Mr. Peter Lloyd : Information is not available centrally in the form requested. However, the psychiatric profile study of the sentenced population carried out by Professor John Gunn and published in October 1992 estimated the prevalence of psychiatric disorders as 38.8 per cent. of which substance dependency or abuse accounted for 19.6 per cent.

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Press (Unauthorised Disclosures)

Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what disciplinary action has been taken against officials in his Department (a) generally and (b) in the press office for unauthorised disclosures to the press in the last 12 months.

Mr. Kenneth Clarke : No Home Office official, either generally or in the press office, has been subject to disciplinary action for unauthorised disclosures to the press in the last 12 months.

Citizenship Applications

Mr. Tony Banks : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 9 December to the hon. Member for Sedgefield (Mr. Blair), Official Report, column 662-64, if he will make a statement on his review of the procedure for handling inquiries on individual citizenship applications.

Mr. Kenneth Clarke : I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave to the hon. Member for Rochdale (Ms. Lynne) on 14 January at columns 793-94, to which I have nothing to add.

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Betting Offices

Sir John Wheeler : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to extend the evening opening hours of licensed betting offices.

Mr. Kenneth Clarke : In October 1991, the Government issued a consultation document inviting the views of all interested parties on whether licensed betting offices should be open in the evening and, if so, at what times. Over 800 representations and a number of petitions have since been received. The views expressed fully reflected the arguments for and against evening opening. In the light of that consultation process, I have decided that evening opening should be allowed until 10 pm on Mondays to Saturdays between April and August inclusive.

Government policy on gambling is that there should be adequate properly regulated facilities available for those who wish to gamble. It is clear that the growth in the number of evening horseraces has created increased consumer demand for evening opening of licensed betting offices during the summer months. In those circumstances, the Government believe that there are no public interest or policy reasons to object to evening opening.

I know that many bookmakers, their staff and the greyhound racing industry are concerned about the effect which evening opening may have on them. I have taken account of those concerns and I believe that the approach now proposed achieves a sensible and reasonable balance between the various interests.

My decision is broadly in line with the recommendations of the Home Affairs Select Committee of the House of Commons following its inquiries into the funding of horseracing and greyhound racing. However, as some horseraces are run after 9 pm and to allow time for payment of any winnings, I propose that the latest closing time should be 10 pm rather than the 9 pm recommended by the Committee. This will be a standard latest closing

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time throughout April to August. A variable closing time, perhaps linked to the last horserace, would have created enforcement difficulties.

The Government are committed to removing unnecessary regulations on business and extending consumer choice where possible. Evening opening represents a further important measure of deregulation and will give bookmakers greater freedom to adjust their opening hours to suit the needs of their customers.

The opening hours of licensed betting offices are prescribed by regulation, subject to the negative resolution procedure. I have today laid an order before parliament which will permit evening opening with effect from 1 April 1993. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland will lay a similar order to permit the same evening opening hours in Scotland.

Prevention of Terrorism

Sir John Wheeler : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how observations from interested persons or organisations should be submitted for consideration by Lord Colville in his report on the operation in 1992 of the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1989.

Mr. Kenneth Clarke : Written observations should be submitted to Lord Colville c/o Room 647, Home Office, 50 Queen Anne's Gate, London SW1H 9AT no later than Friday 5 February 1993.

Metropolitan Police Property

Mr. Straw : To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 11 January, Official Report, column 601, if he will list the total number of residential properties owned by the Metropolitan police and the number, and percentage of the total of these which are empty.

Mr. Charles Wardle [holding answer 15 January 1993] : The information requested is contained in the table :

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Type of property             |Number in MPS estate|Vacant              |Percentage          |Available for       |Percentage                               

                                                                                            |disposal                                                      

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Houses                       |1,271               |68                  |5.3                 |45                  |3.5                                      

Flats                        |1,215               |196                 |16.0                |151                 |12.4                                     

Section houses               |26                  |3                   |11.5                |1                   |3.8                                      

Bed spaces in section houses |2,981               |714                 |23.9                |373                 |12.5

DUCHY OF LANCASTER

The Queen (Income)

Mr. Redmond : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what income Her Majesty the Queen receives in right of her Duchy of Lancaster ; whether it is liable to income tax ; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Waldegrave : Payments are made to the Keeper of the Privy Purse from revenues of the Duchy of Lancaster for Her Majesty's use. The sovereign is entitled to these revenues in right of her Duchy of Lancaster.

Payments to the privy purse are detailed in the Duchy accounts which are placed in the Library of the House. In

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the year to 29 September 1991 the sum of £3,100,000 was paid to the privy purse. Duchy accounts for 1992 will be in the Library by mid-February.

Duchy revenues are not subject to income tax. On the tax question I have nothing to add to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister on 26 November 1992, at column 982.

Sir Charles Powell

Mr. Bennett : To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what steps were taken under the rules relating to business appointments for former civil servants in connection with the appointment of Sir Charles Powell as a director of Jardine Matheson.

Mr. Jackson : Staff at Sir Charles Powell's grade are required to seek approval for any paid outside appointment they wish to accept within two years of

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leaving the civil service. Applications are referred to the head of the home civil service, who advises the appropriate departmental Minister whether any conditions should be applied. Individual applications are treated in confidence.

NATIONAL FINANCE

National Insurance

Mr. Nicholas Brown : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the estimated full-year revenue effect in 1992-93 and 1993-94 of (a) abolishing the upper earnings limit for employee's national insurance contributions, (b) allowing personal allowances against such contributions and (c) both (a) and (b).

Mr. Dorrell : The estimated effects in a full year are shown in the table. For (b) and (c) it has been assumed that the levels of earnings used to calculate National Insurance contributions are gross earnings less the personal allowance. For the 1993-94 calculations, personal allowances have been increased by the autumn statement assumption of 3.25 per cent. over 1992-93 levels. No account has been taken of possible behavioural changes which might result from the measures.


                                   Cost(-)/Yield(+)             

                                  |1992-93  |1993-94            

                                  |£ million|£ million          

----------------------------------------------------------------

(a) Abolishing the upper earnings                               

  limit for employees national                                  

  insurance contributions         |2,700    |2,900              

(b) Allowing personal allowances                                

  against employees' national                                   

  insurance contributions         |-5,100   |-5,300             

(c) Part b with upper earnings                                  

  limit for employee's national                                 

  insurance contribution                                        

  abolished                       |-3,500   |-3,500

Whisky

Mr. Peter Bottomley : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the consumption and the revenue elasticities of duty on whisky and whiskey.

Sir John Cope : We do not have details of elasticities for individual spirits products. We estimate that the price elasticity of demand for spirits consumption is 1.1. The impact of changes in the duty rate on consumption, and hence revenue, will depend on the duty content of the retail price.

ECOFIN Council

Mr. Llew Smith : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proposals he plans to put forward at the ECOFIN Council in Brussels on 18 January.

Mr. Nelson : The Council will discuss the economic situation in the Community as part of its regular exercises in multilateral surveillance and the package of measures to promote economic recovery which was agreed at the European Council in Edinburgh. I have no plans to put forward other proposals.

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Income Tax

Mr. McMaster : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people are employed by his Departments specifically to investigate avoidance of income tax.

Mr. Dorrell : In excess of 1,000 staff in the Inland Revenue are involved in the investigation of errors, differences of legal interpretation and avoidance which they discover in the tax returns and accounts of individuals and trusts. Information is not available about the proportion of their time which is spent specifically investigating avoidance of income tax. The figure given excludes those investigating tax evasion.

Trading Expenses

Mr. Cousins : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the Government's present policy with regard to the setting of pre-production expenses against tax liability as they are incurred ; and what proposals he has to allow this in all areas of economic activity.

Mr. Dorrell : When calculating trading profits for tax purposes, revenue expenditure incurred in the five years before a trade commences is treated as if incurred when the trade starts, provided the expenditure would have qualified as a deduction had the trade commenced. Qualifying capital expenditure which is incurred for the purposes of a trade prior to its commencement is also deemed to have been incurred on the first day of trade.

These are general rules which apply to all trades.

Business Expansion Scheme

Mr. Battle : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was (a) the total amount invested in the business expansion scheme for each year since the scheme's inception, (b) the amount invested in private rented housing, for each year since the scheme was extended to housing, (c) the total cost of tax relief for each year and (d) the amount of tax relief in respect of investment in private rented housing, for each year from 1988-89 to 1992- 93.

Mr. Dorrell : The latest estimates for years up to 1991-92 were given in my reply on 21 October 1992, Official Report , columns 313-14 . Estimates for 1992-93 are not yet available.

Public Expenditure

Mr. Morgan : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement indicating the nature of the over-provision in respect of Wales indicated in footnote 2 to table 2B.3 and footnote 2 to table 2B.4 in the 1992 "Autumn Statement".

Mr. Portillo : The sums relate to the correction of a miscalculation of housing revenue account subsidy for Wales in the 1991 public expenditure survey.

Invalidity Benefit

Mr. Spellar : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether the Government intend to tax invalidity benefits.

Mr. Dorrell : I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave to the hon. Member for Glasgow, Garscadden (Mr. Dewar) on 19 October 1992, Official Report , col. 190 .

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Mr. John Marshall : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the estimated yield from taxing invalidity benefits.

Mr. Dorrell : Available information is given in my reply to the hon. Members for Newport, West (Mr. Flynn) and for Glasgow, Garscadden (Mr. Dewar) on 27 October 1992, at column 572.

Exchange Rates

Mr. Ron Davies : To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the average value of the pound sterling in European currency units in each year since 1987.

Mr. Nelson [holding answer 15 January 1993] : The average annual value of the pound sterling in European currency units since 1987 is as follows :